The problem: Most passengers on short distance flights to and from the main hubs want to connect with medium and long distance flights. The prospect of missing the flight due to train delay therefore in many cases is prohibitive of going to the airport by rail. Only when the rail segment is legally integrated into the flight journey, in such events the passenger will automatically be forwarded by the airline. This is the case in a Lufthansa deal with Deutsche Bahn: It treats some seats on selected regular Deutsche Bahn trains to and from Frankfurt airport as Lufthansa flights (see screenshot).

KLM now prepares to offer a similar service using a Thalys express train between Brussels and Amsterdam airport, treating it as a “flight”. This step is part of KLM’s commitment to “Fly Responsibly”, which aims to create a sustainable future for air transport, but it also reflects commitment to the sector plan “Smart and Sustainable”. Next to that, KLM is faced with slot restrictions at Schiphol. By replacing short-haul flights with rail services, scarce slots can be used for services to long-haul destinations. Rail services will maintain feeder traffic to Schiphol, while network quality improves thanks to the more varied range of available destinations.

The growth of containerized traffic in the port of Genoa continues: in July it touched 250,000 TEUs, the highest monthly volume ever.

The Genoese terminals of Sampierdarena and Pra’ have registered the highest level of containerized traffic ever, totaling 249,892 TEUs (+ 7% compared to the same month of 2018), with particularly high performances by the PSA Genoa Pra’ terminal (beyond 150,000 TEUs equal to + 10.1%) and by the Genoa Port Terminal of the Spinelli Group (approximately 44,000 TEUs equal to + 26.6%).

The July result consolidates the positive trend recorded in recent months and allows the port to recover the slowdown felt in the first part of the year. Looking ahead, maintaining the current trend, the port can reach an increase of around 4% by the end of the year, projecting the final balance above 2,700,000 TEUs.

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Cool with liquefied natural gas: RWE and duisport officially open LNG fuel station

Photo: duisport

Minus 161 degrees and 1/600 of the normal volume – that is Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Service vehicles in the Port of Duisburg will be able to drive with this gas effective immediately. Duisburger Hafen AG and RWE Supply & Trading GmbH opened the joint LNG fuel station with a ceremony during this year’s RWE Energy Dialogue, RWE’s industry customer event. The mobile fuel station is the first step towards an LNG infrastructure – with the objective of establishing LNG as an environmentally-friendly fuel in the Port of Duisburg. The LNG fuel station is part of the effort to establish a functioning application environment for this fuel in the region.